What will Brexit mean for employers who are currently heavily reliant on the EU for their workforce? Will the citizens of other EU member states continue to enjoy an automatic right to travel to and work in the UK? And what is the situation for British employees working in the EU?

The present arrangements

One of the fundamental concepts of the EU is the free movement of workers. At present, British businesses have the ability to employ workers from within the European Economic Area (EEA), (that is, the EU countries plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein), as well as Switzerland, without requiring immigration permission.